CHARITY: Touring music band raising money for Micronesians

The Coyote Bandits, all La Sierra University students or graduates, are embarking on a tour to raise $100,000 for a private, nonprofit group that benefits the Pacific island of Micronesia: From left: Mike Aguirre, Christian Liang, Jaylene Chung, Sterling Spence, Doug Stowers and Scott Wilson.

A musical group of Riverside business students will spend the summer working on behalf of thousands of poor residents living in a cluster of South Pacific islands.

What began as a class assignment earned Sterling Spence an âAâ and the blessings and financial support of La Sierra Universityâs Zapara School of Business, from where heâll soon graduate.

Afterwards, he and members of the band he co-founded three years ago, The Coyote Bandits, will perform from June 11 through Aug. 17 to raise $100,000 for health care in the Federated State of Micronesia and Republic of the Marshall Islands.

A tour schedule is available at http://www.thecoyotebandits.com.

âWe donât want to ask people to pay for tickets,â said Spence. Instead, The Coyote Bandits will seek contributions, in-kind donations and sponsorships to cover performances and merchandise.

Spence, 22, describes their music as âAmericana,â a blend of uplifting original music, hymns, folk, indie, gospel, blues and bluegrass genres dedicated to making a better world. Since 2012, theyâre released three albums: âRiverside Revivalâ âHeavenâs on the Side of the Revolution,â and âThe American Dream.â Their music is available on YouTube, Spotify and iTunes.

For his entrepreneurship class, Spence uploaded to YouTube the promotional video that his band made about its proposed tour. The assignment required him to demonstrate market approval of their business model. By week six, the clip had received more than 1,200 views after band members had friends and their friends spread the word and share the link.

You can see âThe Coyote Banditsâ tour promo videoâ at http://www.youtube.com/thecoyotebandits.

The six artists, all in their early 20s and either current La Sierra students or grads, will crisscross California, Washington and Oregon in a donated motorhome. Theyâll play 20 gigs, including an appearance Tuesday, June 25 on Loma Linda Broadcasting Network. The university has pitched in $5,000 from an endowment fund for the bandâs travel, gas, food, lodging, compact disc and T-shirt costs.

Spence, who sings, composes and plays guitar, banjo and mandolin, formed the band with Christian Liang, guitarist and singer. Other members are Doug Stowers, bass; Michael Aguirre, drums, Jaylene Chung, vocals, violin, mandolin and keyboard; and Scott Wilson, electric guitar. Alex Hirata is the bandâs manager and roadie. Spence, Wilson and Hirata were all student missionaries on the Micronesian islands of Yap.

John Thomas, dean of the Zapara School, who teaches the entrepreneurship class that birthed the Banditsâ project, said this is the first time the university has funded a nonprofit, social action venture.

âThis opened my heart as an educator to see these young, altruistic people sacrifice their summer and give 100 percent of what theyâll raise to people in Micronesia,â Thomas said. âAll we ever hear about are the young entrepreneurs whoâve made a lot of money, the Facebook entrepreneurs of the world. There are so many other stories that matter about exceptional kids like these who are helping people at risk.â

Spence, the business management and religious studies major, scrapped his first plan for Thomasâ class to open a vegan restaurant. âIt was not something I felt good about,â he said.

He felt better about helping others through service, the core of his familyâs values in Benicia in the Bay Area.

Spence is funneling all donations for The Coyote Bandits into the nonprofit program called Canvasback that his parents, Jamie and Jacque Spence, established 32 years ago.

During the coupleâs seven-year voyage around the globe, they discovered the dire poverty of the Micronesians. The Spences returned home to build a 71-foot, aluminum-hulled catamaran they christened Canvasback, which also doubled as the name of their mission.

Through a volunteer staff, the Spences have brought free medical, dental, eye care, health education and relief supplies via their boat and a donated U.S. Coast Guard cutter to the islandsâ 150,000 residents. By 1998, Canvasback had outgrown both vessels but continued its mission via air.

According to its website, Canvasback has provided more than $23.6 million in goods, services and education to Pacific Islanders and completed more than 52,300 patient exams and 30,587 dental procedures.

After the tour wraps, Spence and his girlfriend Jaylene Chung will move to Benicia to work full time for Canvasback.

âIâm sorry about breaking up the band,â Spence said. âThrough my education, I got a whole new respect for what Canvasback was doing.â

Follow Laurie Lucas on Twitter @laurielucas and check her blog on pe.com/busines

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